Ricky Rubio knows that there are a lot of expectations being put on his return to the Timberwolves. He knows he is being cast as the magic sand that will fill in every crack and mask any blemish in the team's promising, if flawed, foundation as soon as he hits the court. It's nothing new for basketball prodigy who has been carrying the weight of expectations since he was a teenager in Spain.

"I don't know why, but the pressure has been following me since I turned pro," Rubio told The Associated Press on Friday. "I was 14 and I was they said I was unimpressive. `He's too young to play. He's not going to do well.' And I did well back in Spain.

"The pressure followed me when I came here and they said, `Oh Ricky's coming after two years, he's going to bring everything to this team.' It's just hard, but it's something that I'm used to. I like the pressure, I like the challenge. The more difficult the challenge, the better it is for me."